Time Never Seemed So Long
by Abigale Lillian
Summary: Kagome receives a message from the past after the well closes. Could Inuyasha still be alive and looking for her?


_May be a one-shot.  
_

By: Abigale Lillian

_Time Never Seemed So Long_

"Higurashi-san, are you sure you don't need me to walk you home?"

"No, no. I'll be fine. I promise."

"Its not safe for a young woman to walk alone at night, you know."

"Look, I told you I'd be fine. I can take care of myself."

"Well, be safe then."

"I will. Don't worry."

This was the basic conversation Kagome had every weekend evening as she left the small club she had been visiting. There weren't many people there this particular night and so she left unusually early. In thirty minutes it would be midnight. Kagome rose her hand to wave to the "gentleman" seeing her off. His facade had not fooled her- she saw through it like she saw through glass. Most men she met at clubs acted like him, pretending to be a good guy just wanting to make sure she makes it home safely, but then once they get to her door they attempt to step in, requesting to stay for just a cup of coffee. Ha. Coffee. Kagome turned away from the club and started on her way down the street which was lit up with the city lights, advertising the best hotel in the city or maybe the finest electronics in the area with the best sales. Kagome hated the city.

Soon she was in the subway station, waiting patiently beside a few strangers who were taking the same train as she. A few minutes ticked by as she glanced at her watch. By the time she got to home it would be past midnight. The subway train pulled out of its hole, and at a declining speed, sped past her and slowed to a stop. The doors opened and she and the few other people stepped onto the the train and sat down. Not many other people were on the train. There was a grizzly old man, an elderly woman, a young man and what looked to be his wife, and a few others. Kagome chose to sit away from the grizzly old man, but also between the elderly woman.

She let out a sigh and again looked down at her clock. In a few minutes she would be off this bus again, and off to her home. But then what? She would go back to her fulfilling job, work the hours she needed to pay for the rent and for food, go out again on the weekend, then go back home, alone. She looked over at the couple that sat a dozen seats away from her. The man was looking blankly out the window across from him with the girl's head leaning slightly on his shoulder, just resting there quietly. Kagome felt something she had felt many times before when she looked at people like this. Longing. Envy. Want.

Out the window she herself peered, checking to see if the man was truly looking out at anything interesting. No, there was just the familiar gray wall with lights flashing past them. Kagome again looked down at her watch. They would be calling the station soon for her to depart to. She watched at the second hand moved around in its circle, and was amazed at how simple a second seemed- how it went around in a circle, then became a minute, and minutes became hours, and hours became days. Those things weren't so bad, not even the days, but it was the weeks, months, and years that continued to make things difficult for Kagome.

The older woman a few seats away from Kagome caught her attention. "That watch isn't going to do any tricks."

Kagome smiled at her. She knew this already. Time is the only thing that doesn't change. No matter what anyone tries to do to change it, there will never be a way to make it slow down or speed up. It is just there, pleasantly going on while everything else in the world was turning from one thing to the next. "I'm just waiting for someone important."

The old woman smiled back at her, her teeth crooked but charming in a way. "I'm sure he'll find you soon."

A voice sounded through the intercom and caught Kagome's attention. It announced her stop. She was about to look back over to the woman who had spoken to her a moment before, but she wasn't there. Kagome looked around. She knew there was something strange about that woman. It seemed that the more and more spirits she encountered, the less apparent it became to her just what they were. Kagome sighed and stood up as the bus neared her destination.

Her healed shoes clapped on the ground as she walked home to her apartment. It was incredibly quiet and still, and the noise of her heals echoed off the building's walls. Suddenly a noise broke through the silence and the click of her heals. It was the bells, bells from the small church down the street. Once, twice... three times they rang, and continuing to count to twelve to announce the beginning of a new day. It was midnight. Kagome checked her watch again, as if she didn't trust the church's timed bells. Yes, it really was midnight.

Kagome sighed as she stared up into the clouded sky, the city's light pollution blocking any sign of a star in the darkness above her. It had been five years since she had last gazed up into a clear night sky. Five whole years. She huffed out a small laugh as she shook her head, as if she could shake the memories out. No, she reminded herself, never forget. And on she walked, up the street and around the corner to the familiar back stairway leading up into her one-room apartment. She threw her purse on the small, barely worn couch as she shook off her pumps.

In her bed room, a small box hid under her bed. It had been waiting there for 12 months to opened. It was a simple box, nothing inscribed on it, nothing saying_ Memorabilia _or _Secret_. Just a simple, plain box. She grabbed the box and sat it next to her on the bed. As she removed the lid, the familiar smell haunted her mind and warmed her heart. She reached in and removed the piece of red clothe, clothe that would protect from fire. Under the clothe lay the beads that once had saved her from many hours of arguing and even her life. She too picked that up and laid it over top the red clothe.

His voice ran through her head as she reached into the box and pulled out the final item. It was an old photograph she couldn't remember how she had found with the words scribbled next to it, _"I will find you." _It was a picture of what looked to be a photograph of a solider in World War II. He wore short cropped white hair, that(conveniently?) covered thickly on the sides of his head, and a hat over top his head. His eyes were light, she could tell even in the black and white photograph, and his face, though older looking, reminded her so much of him.

She was sure. It was Inuyasha.

nd he was going to find her.

But he's had so much time.

Why hasn't he found her yet?


End file.
